Body carrier for battery hearing



Feb. 7, 1939; Y s. GORDON 2,146,570

BODY CARRIER FOR BATTERY HEARING AID Filed Dec. 11', 1936 INVENTORSolo/n07 Gordon in: I v v v A1TORNEY rier will not prevent free PatentedFeb. 7, 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,146,570 BODY CARRIER FORIg'ATTERY HEARINGSolomon Gordon, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application December 11, 1936, SerialNo. 115,336

4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a body carrierfor either air or bone conduction battery hearing aids.

The invention has for an object the construction of an article asmentioned which is characterized by a body band associated with ashoulder strap and equipped to hold a battery and a transmitter andassociated with wires forming a circuit for the hearing piece of thehearing aid. The dominant feature of this construction then resides inthe fact that the body carrier is a complete unit in itself, independentof the clothes of a wearer. Thus, the clothes may be independentlyremoved, changed. or adjusted when desired, or the body carrier may alsobe independently removed. This arrangement permits the body carrier tobe worn over certain clothes or under the clothes, as ones taste maydictate.

.I am aware that straps have been made and used for various purposes,but my invention resides in the combination of a strap systemsubstantially as hereinafter shown and described to which'the hearingaid has been associated so as to produce a complete unit for the hearingaid.

It is another object of this invention to so arrange the body band thatit may be worn about ones chest without bodily discomfort.

Still further it is contemplated to associate an elasticwith the bodyband so that it will have little confining eiiect 'on the body or chest.

Still further the invention proposes to arrange the body carrier in sucha manner that the shoulder strap may be worn oneither shoulder. thusadapting the'dev-ice to the right or the left side of the head and thatstock units can be snugly adjusted to various chest sizes and all typesof battery hearing aids.

Still further the invention proposes to so arrange the body band that itis secured about the chest and shoulder by means of one buckle or itsequivalent in a manner so that the hearing aid cannot be displaced fromthe body in any sort of physical movement. and the wearing of thiscarchest and body movements, and in addition the entire unit may beremoved by simply disconnecting the said one buckle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the classdescribed which. may be washed or laundered readily and worn partseasily replaced.

A further object of this invention is to so construct the device thatonly the wire leading to the head piece is exposed when closed in outerprior to my invention various wearing apparel. The transmitter oi thehearing aid may be worn exposed without sacrificing any of the aboveoutlined objects.

Furthermore, it is in the province of this disclosure to include, thesecure carrying of a radio receiving set, revolver, time clock or anysuch device that is to be concealed under ones clothing.

,For further comprehension of the invention,

and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawing, and to the appendedclaims in which the various novel features of the invention are moreparticularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:-

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a body carrier for battery ear aidshown applied upon a person.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detailed view of a portion of thebattery holding portion of the device. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary Viewsimilar to Fig. 3 but showing another embodiment of the inventionwhereby a battery may be supported around ones leg or other part of thebody.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the device.

The body carrier for battery hearing aid, according to this invention.comprises a body band H] for engaging about ones body and adapted tosupport a transmitter I i. A shoulder strap l2 for engaging over onesshoulder is attached at its ends on the body band, at the front and rearportions thereof A battery holder I4 is supported from the body band [0.electric circuit of the hearing aid is mounted on and extended along thebody band and shoulder strap as hereinafter more fully described so thata hearing piece I5 is operative for the hearing aid and may be connectedin the circuit at the shoulder strap portion of thedevice, that is, thepoint indicated by reference numeral. l6.

The usual wires supplied with the battery hear ing aid set may also beused in their original length, and the excess wires be secured to thebody band and shoulder strap in any suitable manner; or these wires maybe cut and adjusted to suit the individual; or plug-in terminals mayalso be used as indicated by reference numerals l6 and 29, so as to havethe least amount of Wire and at the same time to be able to replace wornout units of the wire, or to use either a short or long wire to variousbattery positions.

The body band I0 includesan elastic section H1 which makes. it resilientso that it does not Electric wires for the interfere with the expansionand. contractIon of ones chest. Furthermore, the elastic is providedwith a conventional adjustment arrangement controlled by a buckle III sothat its operative length may be adjusted. This naturally controls thesize of the body band. The elastic section Iii preferably should extendbeneath ones armpit and so that a small portion is located to thesections of the body band. These front sections are indicated by thereference numerals Ill and Ill. The ring I 9, connects with the sectionI This section IIl in turn connects with a ring 20,-

also similar to ring H, which in turn connects with the section III.This last section is to be made of a stiffer material than the othersections of the body band and shoulder straps, so that section II!should withstand clasping, pinning or otherwise fastening thetransmitter II to same. The rings of split key-ring type II, I9 and 20and loop elements I8 and 22 provide means of easily assembling all unitsof the carrier and also disassembling for laundering or replacements.

The adjacent ends of the section In and the elastic section IIl aredetachably connected with each other by a conventional fastening element2|. This conventional fastening element may be in the form of a buckleconstruction or other arrangement. When it. is opened the body band maybe removed. The shoulder strap I2 is mounted between the rings I! and20. The shoulder strap I2 is arranged to include a loop element 22 andan adjustment arrangement controlled by the buckle device 23. Thearrangement permits the shoulder strap to be adjusted so that the devicemay fit various persons sizes. Also the proportions of the varioussections may be so arranged to permit the body carrier to beinter-changeable from one shoulder to the other. The shoulder strap I2,may also be connected to ring I1, without the use of loop element 22.

The battery holder I4 comprises a vertical strap Hi which is attached tothe top and bottom of ring I9 and which has overlapping ends controlledby a fastening element 24. There is also a horizontal holding band I4associated with the strap portion It which is capable of coacting tohold a battery in position. The arrangement permits the fastener 24 tobe opened to permit the insertion or removal of any special made batteryfor which the battery holder is to be made to suit.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a battery 35 is shown sup- .ported within the holderI4. This battery is 10- cated beneath ones armpit.

At this position it is particularly intended to be worn by men beneaththeir top shirts or jackets. The transmitter II is clipped upon or inany other manner as provided by the manufacturer of the hearing aid,secured on the strap section I0 Wires W extend from the battery to aconnectbr 29 mounted on the strap section I0 From here the wirescontinue into a section W connected with the transmitter. Preferably,this section W should be loose as shown in Fig, 1, andlong enough topermit the removal of the transmitter II from strap section In, and toplace the transmitter v ported on a head band I5 on a table or anyobject or on the wearer's jacket or overcoat lapel or in the pockets ofthe outer side of a garment. I

The wires W then continue to the connector IE on shoulder strap I2. Fromthe connector a wire W continues to either ear pieces I5 of the airconduction type or I5 of the bone conduction type, either of these earpieces may be sup- An elastic band 34 may be mounted upon the shoulderstrap I2 and is connected with the wire section W to normally. hold ittautly stretched downwards. Thus when ones head is bent the wire sectionW will give, but at all times it will have the tendency of being drawninwards under ones clothes. The connector section I6 may readily beopened for replacing the wire section W when it becomes worn. This wiresection will become worn first as it is exposed to the greatest wearwhen used.

The details of the wiring of the battery hearing aid will not be givenin this specification as such wiring 'circuits are generally known andfurther, specifically, form no part .of this invention. Broadly, thewires are included in the combination of the invention merely insofar asthey are mounted upon and extend along portions of the body band and theshoulder straps, and furthermore, insofar as they include plugconnectors, or the like by which portions of the circuit may be openedand connected again as desired and arranged upon different parts of thebody band and the shoulder strap.

In Fig. 4 anotherembodiment of the invention has been disclosed in whichthere is an adjustable strap 35 connected with the ring I9 of the bodyband I0. This strap 35 is adapted to extend down ones leg and at itslower end supports the battery holder I I. Thus the battery holder maybe attached around ones leg. For this reason an auxiliary strap 36 isprovided and wire W will be longer in this case and secured to strap 36.Fig. 4 schematically shows a leg, indicated by numeral 31, to illustratethe manner in which the battery holder is attached. This particular formof the invention is'more adaptable for women.

It will be obvious from the above, that: v

(a) With this device a person can comfortably carry a hearing aidagainst the body with no outer clothing or a minimum amount of clothingas is desired in the home, ofiice, at the beach, in the field of sportor when doing manual labor.

(b) There will be no need of removing the hearing aid when changingouter clothing during the day.

(0) This carrier will minimize the possible damage by dropping any partof the hearing aid.

(d) This carrier will prevent wear and tear of. the pockets and fabricof a persons clothing and free the use of the pockets of the clothingfor their original purpose.

(e) This carrier will minimize bending and breaking of the wires or thewearing off of the covering of the wires, causing short circuits in thehearing aid.

0) Only about A; of the wire now furnished with the hearing instrumentwill be necessary.

(g) Since that part of the wire extending from the neck to the headwears out, and is soiled faster than the balance of the wiring, theentire wire unit need not be replaced, but only that part extending fromthe plug connector I6, at the shou1 der to the ear or head piece at afraction of the cost of an entire wiring unit.

(h) This device is adaptable to the use of a special battery case to befilled with common standard dry cells at from A to less in-cost than thespecial batteries furnished by the manufacturers of hearing devices,with the added efilciency of being able'to readily replace any one ofthe low voltage cells making up the battery unit, by means of testingeach individually with a voltmeter. This battery case also will helpprevent damage to clothing from leaky batteries, and replacement batteryunits can be readily obtained in any locality of any country at alltimes.

(i) The cost of this body carrier for hearing aid is quickly compensatedfor in the saving of wires and batteries.

Owing to the adjustable and reversible features of thisdevice, severalpersons of different sizes may be fitted with one size of the carrier,for either right or left side reception and so enable a dealer to carrya comparatively small number of the article in stock and nevertheless beable to fit a large number of customers.

While I have illustrated and described the preferre d embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and the right claim as new, anddesire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:-

1. A body carrier for battery hearing aid comprising. a body band forengaging about ones body and adapted to support a transmitter, ashoulder strap for engagingover ones shoulder and at its ends attachedon said body band at front and rear portions thereof, a battery holdersupported on said body band, wires for the electric circuit of saidhearing aid mounted upon and extending along said body band and to thehead piece of the hearing aid and a resilient member extending between aportion of said wire leading to said head piece and said shoulder strapto keep said wire in a taut condition.

2. A body carrier for battery hearing aid comprising a body band forengaging about ones body and adapted to support a transmitter, ashoulder strap for engaging over ones shoulder and at its ends attachedon said body band at front and rear portions thereof, a battery holdersupported on said body band, and wires for the electric circuit of saidhearing aid mounted upon and extending along said body band and shoulderstrap so that a head piece of the hearing aid maybe connected in saidcircuit at the shoulder strap, said electric circuit including severalconnectors mounted upon the body band and shoulder strap.

3. In a body carrier for a battery hearing aid, a shoulder strap forengaging over ones shoulder and having its ends connected with a bodystrapat the front and rear thereof, a head band for engaging over oneshead, a head piece mounted on one end of said head band, a transmitterand a battery supported on said body band, a wire connecting saidtransmitter, said battery, and said head piece in a circuit to carrysound waves from said transmitter to said head piece, and an elasticband extending between said shoulder strap and said wire in the vicinityof said shoulder strap to keep said wire leading to said head piece in ataut condition.

4. In a body carrier for a battery hearing aid, a shoulder strap forengaging over ones shoulder and having its ends connected with a bodystrap at the front and rear thereof, a head band for engaging over oneshead, a head jpiece mounted on one end of said head band, a transmitterand a battery supported on said body band, a wire connecting saidtransmitter, said battery,' and said head piece in a circuit to carrysound waves from said transmitter to said headpiece, and an elastic bandextending between said shoulder strap and said wire in the vicinity ofsaid shou1- der strap to keep said wire leading to said head piece in ataut condition, said wire being formed of separate sections of wireconnected together by connectors so that when a section of said wirebecomes worn it may be easily replaced without the expense of replacingthe entire wire.

SOLOMON GORDON.

